JP5871651B2 - Bathtub safety mechanism and openable bathtub safety mechanism - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to a safety mechanism for a bathtub and a safety mechanism for an open / close-type bathtub provided with a lift mechanism that raises and lowers a seating portion on which a bather sits in a bathtub body.

Conventionally, for example, in a bathtub for a nursing facility or a household bathtub, if the height of the side wall of the bathtub body is high when taking a bath, it is not easy for a disabled person or an elderly person to cross the side wall, and it is difficult to enter the bathtub. There is a fear. Therefore, the floor surface is dug down to some extent, and the bathtub main body is dropped and installed in the dug portion, thereby reducing the height of the side wall of the bathtub main body relative to the floor surface. Thereby, even if it is a handicapped person, an elderly person, etc., it can be easily bathed across the side wall of a bathtub main body.
However, in the conventional bathtub in which the bathtub main body is dropped onto the floor surface that has been dug, there is a problem that it takes time and cost to construct the floor surface to drop the bathtub main body.

Moreover, the bathtub which can open and close shown in patent document 1 is proposed as a bathtub which improved such a fault. In this bathtub, an opening is formed in the side wall of the bathtub body, and a door is provided to be slidable in the vertical direction with respect to the opening. When taking a bath for persons with disabilities, elderly people, etc., the door is lowered to open the opening, and a bathing chair on which the bather is placed is placed on the rail base in the bathtub body from the transfer stand arranged adjacent to the bathtub body. It is configured to move sideways and then close the door and close the opening of the bathtub body.
When transferring the bather into the bathtub body during bathing, the amount of hot water in the bathtub above the opening is temporarily transferred to the tank, and the opening is liquid-tightly closed by the door and the hot water in the tank is then placed in the bathtub. I try to return it. For this reason, the adjustment of hot water accompanying bathing and leaving the bather is about half of the hot water stored in the bathtub, so that the transfer of hot water accompanying bathing and bathing can be greatly shortened.

By the way, in recent years, the ratio of elderly people to the total population has been increasing year by year, and it has become difficult to care for many elderly people in hospitals, nursing homes, and the like. Therefore, the necessity of care including bathing for the elderly etc. at home is increasing year by year.
However, the open / close bathtub described in Patent Document 1 is configured to transfer a bather to a rail platform in the bathtub through the opening of the bathtub body while being placed on a chair or stretcher for bathing. Since the occupied space including the space for chairs and stretchers is large and a large space is required for the bathroom and the bathtub main body, it is not suitable for bathing in a relatively small domestic bathroom or a small bathroom or bathtub.

On the other hand, in the bathtub described in Patent Document 2, a lift mechanism is provided on the side wall facing the opening of the bathtub body so as to be able to move up and down the seating section on which the bather sits, and the seating section provided on the lift mechanism is rotated. It is made possible and slidable in the direction of the opening. In addition, the lift mechanism is movable along the side wall.
As a result, even in a narrow space such as a home bathroom, the lift mechanism having a seating portion can be moved according to the layout of the bathroom and positioned at a position where bathing is easy. In addition, it is easy for disabled people and the elderly to enter and exit the bathtub through the opening by rotating or moving the seating part while the bather is seated on the seating part of the bathtub. Is possible.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-7848 JP 2006-296715 A

   However, in the openable bathtub described in Patent Document 2 described above, a bather seated on the seat of the lift mechanism within the bathtub body is moved to the bottom side by lowering the lift mechanism and adds hot water in the tank. In the bathing state. And when leaving, the bather can leave by returning a part of the hot water to the tank and raising the seating part and lowering the door part, but when raising the seating part, the bather's head and hair and There is a risk that other articles such as towels may come into contact with or be pinched by the lifting mechanism installed at the top of the lift mechanism and bite the head and hair.

     The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and a safety mechanism for a bathtub and an open / close-type bathtub that prevent a head, hair, and the like from being sandwiched by the lift mechanism when the seat is raised by the lift mechanism. The purpose of this is to provide a safety mechanism.

A bathtub safety mechanism according to the present invention includes a lift mechanism that is provided along an inner wall surface of a bathtub body and supports a seating portion, and a lift drive unit that raises and lowers the seating portion along the pillar. A cover member covering the lifting drive unit is detachably locked to the upper surface of the side wall having an inner wall surface, and the head or other member is sandwiched between the cover member and the rising seat portion. In this case, the locking is released.
In the bathtub according to the present invention, the bather can be seated on the seat in the bathtub body and can be moved up and down, and when the seat rises, the bather's head and other members are located between the seat and the cover member. When a small load is applied to the cover member, the engagement is released and the cover member is released. Therefore, even if an electric lift mechanism is provided, safety is high.

The safety mechanism of an openable bathtub according to the present invention is an openable bathtub provided with a bathtub main body and a door portion that opens and closes an opening provided on the upper side of one side wall of the bathtub main body. A lift mechanism provided on the inner wall surface of the other side wall and supporting the seating portion; and a lift mechanism for moving the seating portion up and down along the support column. A cover member that covers the drive unit is detachably locked, and the cover member is unlocked when a head or other member is sandwiched between the rising seat portion and the seat member. And
In the safety mechanism of the openable bathtub according to the present invention, the bather can be seated on the seat in the bathtub body and moved up and down, and when the seat rises, the bather's head and other members are separated from the seat. When a small load is applied to the cover member when sandwiched between the cover member and the cover member is released when the small load is applied to the cover member, the cover member is removed. Therefore, even if an electric lift mechanism is provided, safety is high.

Moreover, the cover member may be attached to the storage box which accommodated the raising / lowering drive part or the raising / lowering drive part with the hinge.
When the cover member is removed, the cover body is held by the hinge without falling on the floor surface.
In addition, it is preferable that the storage box is installed on the back side of the other side wall of the bathtub body, and since the elevating drive unit is not installed above the other side wall of the bathtub body, it does not give a feeling of pressure to the bather. .

Moreover, it is preferable that the cover member can mount the head of the bather who seated on the seating part.
If the bather placed on the seating part takes a head on the cover member when taking a bath, it becomes a pillow and can be more relaxed.

According to the safety mechanism of a bathtub and an open / close-type bathtub according to the present invention, a bather can be seated on a seating portion in the bathtub body and lifted, but when the seating portion rises, the bather's head and others When the member is sandwiched between the seating part and the cover member, the cover member is released when a small load is applied to the cover member, and the cover member is released. high.
In addition, this cover member can be used as a bather's pillow in the mounted state, and also serves as a cover for the elevating drive unit, leading to a reduction in production cost.
Therefore, bathing with improved safety is possible not only in a bathtub or open / close bathtub in a nursing facility, but also in a relatively narrow bathtub for home use or the like, even if an electric lift mechanism is provided.

It is a perspective view which shows the open / close-type bathtub by embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the open / close-type bathtub shown in FIG. It is the front view which fractured | ruptured some openable bathtubs. It is the elements on larger scale which show the attachment structure of the cover member shown in FIG. The lift mechanism installed in the side surface of an open / close-type bathtub is shown, (a) is a side view, (b) is a rear view. It is the front view which fractured | ruptured partially the cover of the storage box in an open / close-type bathtub. It is the side view seen from the storage box side of an open / close-type bathtub. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. 3 which shows the state which the seating part fell to the bottom face in the open / close-type bathtub. It is a figure similar to FIG. 8 which shows the state which raised the seating part from the state shown in FIG. 8, and the other articles | goods contacted the cover member.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The openable bathtub 10 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a bathtub body 11, an opening 12 provided in the first side wall 11a on the near side of the bathtub body 11, and the height direction of the first side wall 11a. The door part 13 which can move and opens and closes the opening part 12 is provided.
The bathtub main body 11 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape with the top opened, and is formed by four side walls 11a to 11d and a bottom surface. In the figure, the side walls 11a to 11d are formed of a first side wall 11a and a second side wall 11b that form a long side plate, and a third side wall 11c and a fourth side wall 11d that form a short side plate. . The opening 12 is formed by cutting the first side wall 11a on the near side into a rectangular shape, for example, approximately in the upper half from the top to the bottom.

The door part 13 is for opening and closing the opening part 12, and is attached along the first side wall 11a of the bathtub main body 11 so as to be movable up and down. The first side wall 11a is provided with a guide groove 14 that guides the up-and-down movement of the door portion 13, and a gas such as air is supplied to the inner surface of the door portion 13 between the opening 12 and the periphery of the first side wall 11a. A seal member 15 is provided to prevent the leakage of hot water by liquid-tightly sealing (see FIG. 6).
The seal member 15 is formed on the inner surface of the door portion 13 in, for example, a substantially U shape or a U shape. The sealing member 15 is made of a synthetic resin or rubber member that is hollow and can be expanded and contracted. When a gas such as air is supplied with the door portion 13 closing the opening portion 12, the hot water in the bathtub body 11 is opened. The liquid-tight sealing action that does not leak from the portion 12 is achieved.

  Moreover, in FIG. 1, the lift mechanism 16 is attached to the 3rd side wall 11c which is a short side plate-shaped side surface in the bathtub main body 11, and the storage box 17 is arrange | positioned at the back side of the 3rd side wall 11c. The structure of the lift mechanism 16 is described in detail in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, a column 18 is provided in the bathtub body 11 along the vertical direction of the third side wall 11 c. A seating portion 19 that can be lifted and lowered by using the column 18 as a lifting guide is attached to 18.

As shown in FIG. 3, the seat portion 19 is provided with a lift portion 20 that moves up and down along the support column 18 and a seat surface portion 21 on which a bather sits in a substantially L shape in side view. On the front side of the lift part 20, a backrest part 22 that makes a backrest of a bather is attached.
In addition, the seat surface part 21 may be provided with a flap 23 that can be bent via a hinge on one side or both sides. In the state where the door part 13 is lowered and the opening part 12 is opened as shown in FIG. The upper surface of the opening 12 of the first side wall 11a and the upper surface of the door portion 13 have substantially the same height, and the flap 23 is placed on the same plane as the seating surface portion 21 thereon. Thereby, when a bather goes in and out of the bathtub main body 10, it can move to the seat surface part 21 by sitting down in the flap 23 once, or can go out from the seat surface part 21 in the bathtub main body 11 outside. .

In the lift mechanism 16 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a substantially L-shaped frame 25 including a horizontal plate 25 a and a downward vertical plate 25 b is provided on the upper portion of the column 18, and a lift is provided on the vertical plate 25 b of the frame 25. An elevating drive unit 26 for driving the mechanism 16 is installed. In the elevating drive unit 26, a battery 27, a gear box 28, and a motor 29 are attached to the frame 25, for example, approximately in parallel.
The horizontal plate 25a of the frame 25 connected to the upper end of the support column 18 is placed on the upper surface of the third side wall 11c, and the vertical plate 25b and the elevating drive unit 26 enter into the adjacent storage box 17 from its upper end opening. Has been.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper surface of the third side wall 11 c, the horizontal plate 25 a of the frame 25, and the upper end opening of the storage box 17 are covered with a cover member 30. The cover member 30 is configured such that the inner wall of the opening covering the elevating drive unit 26 is lightly engaged with an engaging portion such as a convex portion provided on the upper surface of the storage box 17, the elevating drive unit 26, or the third side wall 11 c. .
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a convex portion 17 a (or concave portion) is provided at the upper end opening of the storage box 17, and a concave portion 30 a (or convex portion) that fits lightly into the convex portion 17 a is provided at the end of the opening of the cover member 30. Provided.

The cover member 30 is connected to the storage box 17 and the hinge 31 at the end opposite to the bathtub body 11. The cover member 30 not only covers the upper end opening of the storage box 17 and the elevating drive unit 26, but also covers the head of the bather when the bather bathes in the bathtub body 11 and sits on the seat surface 21. It also has a function as a pillow. Therefore, the upper surface of the cover member 30 forms a concave curved surface.
In the normal state, the cover member 30 has an opening portion that covers the upper end opening of the storage box 17 and the lift drive unit 26 and is held by the storage box 17 or the lift drive unit 26, and one end portion of the cover member 30 is a bathtub. It is protruded and held on a support 18 in the main body 11. For this reason, the seat 19 rises, and other articles such as the bather's head, hair or towel (hereinafter, these articles are indicated by symbol B) are in the locked state with the lift 20 or the backrest 22. When the seating portion 19 is further lifted when sandwiched between the member 30 and the seat 30, the cover member 30 is detached with a slight force from the storage box 17, the lifting / lowering drive portion 26, or the engaging portion such as the convex portion of the third side wall 11c. It is like that.

  Further, in the lift mechanism 16 shown in FIG. 5, a wire 35 is attached to the roller 32 protruding to the outside from the gear box 28, and the wire 35 extends in the column 18 via the other rollers 33 and 34 and is lifted 20. It is connected to. Then, by winding the wire 35 with the roller 32 by the rotation of the motor 29 in one direction, the seating portion 19 is guided and raised by the support 18, and the wire 35 wound around the roller 32 by rotating the motor 29 in the reverse direction. The seat 19 is lowered by its own weight.

In the storage box 17 provided on the side surface of the bathtub main body 11 shown in FIG. 6, the battery 27, the gear box 28, and the motor 29 of the lift drive unit 26 are stored in the upper part, and the lower part of the lift mechanism 17. A sliding portion 38 that houses a relay box 37 that is electrically connected to the motor 29 and / or the battery 27 is provided. The relay box 37 also constitutes a part of the lifting drive unit 26.
As shown in FIG. 7, a rail portion 39 is attached to the lower portion in the storage box 17. The rail part 39 is installed on the leg part, and a substantially L-shaped support guide is provided on the side part of the rail part 39.

The sliding portion 38 is provided with a relay box 37 of the elevating drive unit 26 on the substrate 43, and as a pressure supply means for supplying a gas such as air to the seal member 15 provided on the inner surface of the door portion 13. For example, an air pump 44 is provided. The relay box 37 is electrically connected to the motor 29 and / or the battery 27 by electric wiring. The air pump 44 can supply air to the sealing member 15 provided on the inner surface of the door portion 13 via the tube 46, and can seal the raised door portion 13 and the first side wall 11a in a liquid-tight manner.
The sliding portion 38 is slid along the rail portion 39 so that it can be pulled out and stored from the storage box 17 and can be separated from the rail portion 39 when being pulled out. A cover 45 is attached to the front surface of the storage box 17 so as to cover the sliding portion 38 in a stored state.

The open / close bathtub 10 according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.
When bathing a bather, in FIG. 1, hot water is filled in the bathtub main body 11 of the openable bathtub 10 to the opening 12, and the door 13 is lowered to open the opening 12. And a bather places the flap 23 connected to the seat surface part 21 of the seating part 19 on the opening part 12 and the door part 13 which make the same plane, and a bather sits on this.
Then, the bather sits on the flap 23, moves over the opening 12, moves onto the seat surface portion 21 in the seating portion 19 in the bathtub body 11, and thereafter, an assistant or the like manually raises the door portion 13. The flap 23 is bent inside the door portion 13. In this state, air is supplied from the air pump 44 through the tube 46 to the seal member 15 to be expanded, and the door 13 and the first side wall 11a are sealed in a liquid-tight manner as shown in FIG.
Thereafter, the motor 29 of the lift mechanism 16 is driven to lower the seating portion 19 toward the bottom surface, and the bather enters a bathing state by filling the remaining hot water.

In the bathing state shown in FIG. 8, if the bather sitting on the seating surface portion 21 of the seating portion 19 deflects his / her head backward, the bather puts it on the upper surface of the cover member 30 locked to the storage box 17 or the lifting / lowering driving portion 26. The cover member 30 can function as a pillow.
And when taking a bath after bathing is complete | finished, it is made to operate | move contrary to said procedure. That is, about half of the hot water is returned to another tank, the hot water level is lowered to the lower part of the opening 12, the seating part 19 of the lift mechanism 16 is raised, and the seating part 21 on which the bather sits is placed below the opening 12. And keep it at the same level. Alternatively, hot water may be drained from the drain outlet on the bottom surface of the bathtub body 11.

When the seating portion 19 is raised, another item B such as a bather's head, hair, or towel may be sandwiched between the lift portion 20 or the backrest portion 22 and the cover member 30 in the locked state. Moreover, since the seating portion 19 is electrically driven, the seating portion 19 is further pushed upward.
Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when a slight force is applied to the cover member 30 by the raising of the seating portion 19, the cover member 30 is detached from the storage box 17 or the engaging portion of the elevating drive unit 26. At this time, since the cover member 30 is connected to the storage box 17 by the hinge 31 even if it is about to fall, the cover member 30 is held in the storage box 17 without dropping.
Therefore, even if the seating portion 19 is further raised, the bather can be safely raised to a position facing the opening 12.

  Then, the air of the seal member 15 is removed, and a caregiver, a family member, or the like lowers the door portion 13, opens the flap 23 of the seat surface portion 21, and places it horizontally on the opening portion 12 and the upper surface of the door portion 13. Thereafter, the bather moves his / her waist from the seat surface portion 21 to the flap 23 and exits across the opening 12.

  As described above, according to the open / close bathtub 10 according to the present embodiment, the cover member 30 is placed on the third side wall 11c and the storage box 17 and is locked to the storage box 17 or the lift drive unit 26. Each component of the raising / lowering drive part 26 accommodated in 17 can be protected. In addition, when the sitting portion 19 is raised, the bather's head, hair, or other article B seated on the seat surface portion 21 is in the locked state between the cover member 30 and the lift portion 20 or the backrest portion 22. Even if it is caught, the cover member 26 is unlocked from the storage box 17 or the elevating drive unit 26 with a small force of the seating portion 19 that rises. It can be secured. In addition, since the cover member 30 is connected to the storage box 17 via the hinge 31, even if the cover member 30 is detached, it does not fall and the cover member 30 is not damaged.

Further, the cover member 30 can cover and protect the elevating drive unit 26 and the upper end openings of the storage box 17, and the elevating drive unit 26 is held in the storage box 17 that forms the back side of the third side wall 11 c of the bathtub body 11. Therefore, it is not installed above the column 18 or the bathtub main body 11 and does not give an intimidating feeling to the bather.
Moreover, since the bather who sits on the seat surface part 21 of the seating part 19 can rest on the cover member 30 by relaxing his / her head when taking a bath, the cover member 30 can also be given a function as a pillow. Multifunctional and can reduce manufacturing costs.

The open / close bathtub 10 according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate changes and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the openable bathtub 10 that opens and closes the opening 12 with the door 13 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and a normal bathtub without the opening 12 and the door 13 is used. The present invention can also be applied to.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the lift mechanism 16 and the storage box 17 were installed in the 3rd side wall 11c and its back surface, it cannot be overemphasized that you may install in the other side wall 11a, 11b, 11d side.
In the above-described embodiment, the cover member 30 is configured such that the inner wall of the opening is locked to the storage box 17 or the convex portion of the elevating drive unit 26, but instead, the third side wall 11c or It may be merely placed on the storage box 17 or the lift drive unit 26.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in the lift mechanism 16, the lift drive unit 26 that lifts and lowers the seating part 19 is housed in the storage box 17 installed on the back surface of the side wall 11 c of the bathtub body 11, and the height of the lift mechanism 16 is increased. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the elevating drive unit 26 may be installed above the support column 18. In this case, since the height of the lift mechanism 16 is higher than that of the bathtub body 11, the bather may feel a sense of pressure. However, since the storage box 17 is not provided, the bathtub body 11 becomes compact and is narrow for home use. It can also be installed in the bathroom.
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the seal member 15 is disposed on the door portion 13 has been described. However, the seal member 15 may be disposed on the surface around the opening portion 12 of the first side wall 11a. In addition, although the example in which the seal member 15 swells by supplying air to perform the sealing function is shown, other seal materials such as packing can be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Open / close-type bathtub 11 Bath body 11a 1st side wall 11c 3rd side wall 12 Opening part 13 Door part 15 Sealing member 16 Lifting mechanism 17 Storage box 17a Protrusion part 18 Support | pillar 19 Seating part 21 Seat surface part 26 Lifting drive part 30 Cover member 30a Concave part 31 Hinge B Article

Claims (5)

A bathtub provided with a lift mechanism that is provided along an inner wall surface of a bathtub body and supports a seating portion, and a lift drive unit that raises and lowers the seating portion along the pillar,
A cover member covering the elevating drive unit is detachably locked to the upper surface of the side wall having the inner wall surface,
A safety mechanism for a bathtub, wherein the cover member is unlocked when a head portion or another member is sandwiched between the rising seat portion and the seat portion.   The bathtub safety mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is attached to a storage box in which the elevating drive unit is stored by a hinge. An open / close bathtub having a bathtub main body and a door for opening and closing an opening provided on the upper side of one side wall of the bathtub main body,
A lift mechanism provided on the inner wall surface of the other side wall in the bathtub body and supporting a seating portion; and a lift drive unit that lifts and lowers the seating portion along the pillar,
A cover member that covers the lifting drive unit is detachably locked to the upper surface of the other side wall,
The safety mechanism for an open / close-type bathtub, wherein the cover member is unlocked when a head portion or another member is sandwiched between the rising seat portion and the seat portion. The safety mechanism for an openable / closable bathtub according to claim 3 , wherein the cover member is attached to a storage box in which the lift drive unit is stored by a hinge. The safety mechanism for an openable / closable bathtub according to claim 3 or 4 , wherein the cover member is configured to allow a bather's head seated on the seat portion to be placed thereon.

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